paramedic degree vs certificate?

Newmedic20

Forum Ride Along
5
0
0
The school im attending for my EMT-b is non accredited at the moment he will be in about two months, And the instructor told me that this school could give me my degree after it becomes accredited as long as my emt-b liscense hasn't expired. I'm planning on going to this school for paramedics as well by that time he will be accredited and able to offer degrees.
 

AMF

Forum Crew Member
96
0
0
Related Question:

I know many of you tend to hate on the shorter certification programs but I'm a premed so I already will have an excellent grasp on the bio chem (premed has, amongst other things, 5 semesters of it), so would doing a cert program still be a hinderance?

I guess this is more a question of curriculum makeup (i.e. nothing that I learned in school helped me get my b, but I've heard evidence to the contrary in regard to paramedicine).
 

medicsb

Forum Asst. Chief
818
86
28
Related Question:

I know many of you tend to hate on the shorter certification programs but I'm a premed so I already will have an excellent grasp on the bio chem (premed has, amongst other things, 5 semesters of it), so would doing a cert program still be a hinderance?

I guess this is more a question of curriculum makeup (i.e. nothing that I learned in school helped me get my b, but I've heard evidence to the contrary in regard to paramedicine).

Concentrate on doing well on the MCAT, getting a high GPA, and padding your resume with superficial extracurriculars (e.g. research on rodents or volunteering). Unless you get some real medic experience, as in years of work, I don't see a medic cert putting you that much ahead (if at all) of the other applicants.
 

motivation15

Forum Ride Along
5
0
0
i never knew you could either get a degree or a cert for a paramedic does anyone know of any schools thats offer and degree?
 

AMF

Forum Crew Member
96
0
0
Concentrate on doing well on the MCAT, getting a high GPA, and padding your resume with superficial extracurriculars (e.g. research on rodents or volunteering). Unless you get some real medic experience, as in years of work, I don't see a medic cert putting you that much ahead (if at all) of the other applicants.

Haha opinion on extracurriculars noted.
But I am taking several years off after college and it's not about pulling ahead; I love my job (as a basic) but I could make three times as much with my hypothetical degree and getting a full-time job as a new basic is very difficult.
 

nwhitney

Forum Captain
354
1
18
Related Question:

I know many of you tend to hate on the shorter certification programs but I'm a premed so I already will have an excellent grasp on the bio chem (premed has, amongst other things, 5 semesters of it), so would doing a cert program still be a hinderance?

I guess this is more a question of curriculum makeup (i.e. nothing that I learned in school helped me get my b, but I've heard evidence to the contrary in regard to paramedicine).

If you already have a degree in something then I feel a paramedic cert. is just fine. The main thing is having an actual degree in something. In my experience many agencies/businesses favor people with degrees regardless of what the degree is in. Always exceptions though and I'm sure some place out there doesn't really care.
 

AMF

Forum Crew Member
96
0
0
If you already have a degree in something then I feel a paramedic cert. is just fine. The main thing is having an actual degree in something. In my experience many agencies/businesses favor people with degrees regardless of what the degree is in. Always exceptions though and I'm sure some place out there doesn't really care.

The degree program doesn't actually make you a better paramedic?
 

Handsome Robb

Youngin'
Premium Member
9,736
1,173
113
If you have a BS in Bio there's no reason to get an AS in Paramedicine...Now if you have Bachelors in something random, non-science related it would benefit you to get the AS in Paramedicine for the science prereqs they require.
 

nwhitney

Forum Captain
354
1
18
The degree program doesn't actually make you a better paramedic?

I don't think having a degree would make someone a better medic than someone with a cert. Rather it's the perception that the business world has of degree holders vs. cert. holders. Because of this perception I would recommend getting a degree over a cert. Many other factors determine who is a good medic and who is not.
 

medicsb

Forum Asst. Chief
818
86
28
Haha opinion on extracurriculars noted.
But I am taking several years off after college and it's not about pulling ahead; I love my job (as a basic) but I could make three times as much with my hypothetical degree and getting a full-time job as a new basic is very difficult.

Well then. Toss all those superficial extracurriculars aside. Actually some type of volunteer work could actually be valuable, but you don't have to spend time in some clinic in a jungle of a 3rd world country if you really don't care about whatever 3rd world country. Having interviewed med school applicants for my school, I can say it is pretty obvious most only did research or certain volunteer work to "impress" schools and as far as I can tell the faculty interviewers can see right through all that. kladjhglakj enough about that.

If you're taking time off to actually work, then great. A certification program would probably be best. The benefit of the degree programs is that they give a medic a general educational foundation that certification programs do not do, or do poorly. You have that educational foundation and then some. A degree worth going for maybe something like a masters in disaster planning/preparedness or EMS management (a lot of these can be done over the internet). Aside from advancing the profession as a whole, I see degrees being important in EMS if you want to gain supervisory or administrative positions (in my area many of such positions require at least an AAS, but a masters in something relevant to the field is often preferred).
 

AMF

Forum Crew Member
96
0
0
Well then. Toss all those superficial extracurriculars aside. Actually some type of volunteer work could actually be valuable, but you don't have to spend time in some clinic in a jungle of a 3rd world country if you really don't care about whatever 3rd world country. Having interviewed med school applicants for my school, I can say it is pretty obvious most only did research or certain volunteer work to "impress" schools and as far as I can tell the faculty interviewers can see right through all that. kladjhglakj enough about that.

If you're taking time off to actually work, then great. A certification program would probably be best. The benefit of the degree programs is that they give a medic a general educational foundation that certification programs do not do, or do poorly. You have that educational foundation and then some. A degree worth going for maybe something like a masters in disaster planning/preparedness or EMS management (a lot of these can be done over the internet). Aside from advancing the profession as a whole, I see degrees being important in EMS if you want to gain supervisory or administrative positions (in my area many of such positions require at least an AAS, but a masters in something relevant to the field is often preferred).

Aaahh Engineering is sort of like that in that you can get a PhD but most opt for an MBA or Masters in Engineering Mgmt (MEM) and all the good engineers go into business eventually which I can't stand..... but anyway, thanks for the advice.
 

jccilm

Forum Probie
14
0
0
If you get your certification through a community college, sometimes they'll give you credit towards your AAS, so you just have to round out a few courses to qualify for the degree. That's what I'm basically doing right now. You just need to research things and find out if something like that is available to you.
 

mikeward

Forum Crew Member
37
1
8
Paramedic AAS to Bachelor's in Health Science/EMS Management

When you take the community college route to get paramedic certification there are general education gaps when you want to get a bachelor degree.

Most paramedic programs issue an Associate of Applied Science or a Technical Associate. These are considered vocational programs that are not designed for transfer to a four year college or university.

Attached is an program of study between a community college AAS EMS degree and a university Bachelor of Science in Health Science.

The GWU program starts at the junior level and assumes all of the lower division (1st and 2nd year) general education courses are complete.

There is a 9 to 12 semester gap between the AAS degree and the general education expectations at the university.

For this example, six of those hours (Math and second English course) MUST be completed prior to admission to the university.

Fall 2011 changes in university general education requirements and in Health Science curriculum make this form obsolete.

Strokin&SmokinGirl97
Go for the degree:

Nursing - best clinical approach

Health Care Management - most flexibility

Check jems.com "Education & Training Resource" and a 2010 article in EMS World by Skip Kirkwood

Good luck

Mike
 

Attachments

  • NVCC_2_GWU.pdf
    108.3 KB · Views: 369
Last edited by a moderator:
Top